Sunday, August 08, 2004
Close Encounters...and I mean REALLY close
We have had another calm and uneventful week and so weren't sure what to write for a blog. Hah, well sometimes things have a way of working out in odd ways. Yesterday we were given an interesting piece of blog fodder for all of our loyal readers.
We decided to head into Mot (short, local slang for Motueka..I guess 3 syllables is too many) to do some emailing. We were driving along minding our own business on the stretch of road that cuts through the inlet, high tide area. So there is water (or at low tide, sludge) on either side of the raised road. Down in this water is where the ducks lurk waiting for unexpecting victims. As we drove along at 100K the ducks watched us coming and they plotted and planned. When we got close enough, the ducks flew up from the side of the road directly in front of us in order to scare us. Well one of the poor guys apparently hadn't rehearsed the plan well enough because he missed the timing and smashed right into the windshield in front of my nose. We drove along in shock for a good 30 seconds before it registered and then continued a few more seconds along the road before we found a wide spot where we pulled off. We looked at each other and then hopped out of the car to inspect the smashed windshield. The first thing on both of our minds was anger at the duck, so that tells you we were both ok, no lasting harm done. I just say thank goodness that windshields are made the way they are or I would have had a faceful of glass, feathers, and copious amounts of duck poo. --I know you were waiting for that, it just adds to our collection of stories on this adventure that include poo of some kind, whether it be horse, olive, sheep, or what. Well, add one more to the list!--
Once we had recovered from the shock we continued in to Mot in a daze of denial. I just kept looking at the huge rings of cracks in front of me and thinking nah, we didn't just hit a stupid duck, and nah we don't really have to have it fixed now. That lasted most of the morning, actually, although the hostility I was feeling toward the duck (for causing this hiccup on our road to no longer having to work) increased steadily the more I thought about it. We chatted on instant messenger with my mom and most of Mike's family who were visiting in Boise and they can attest to my growling. A bit later Mike and I wandered around a small farmer's market in Mot and sharing a delicious bratwurst from one of the stands, and every couple of minutes looked at each other and cursed the duck and it's fowl play. (groan) But it could have been worse, it was for the duck!
Later yesterday afternoon we had tea with Jeanette and some of her friends and shared our ducktastrophe with them. Finally we were able to laugh for real at the situation and since then we are no longer hostile, just resigned to getting the mess fixed. This morning we called our boss, Phil, early to find out if we were working today and found that indeed we weren't, so we have an extra day to play. Yesterday and today the kiwi plants are being sprayed with chemicals to help them all achieve budburst and flower at the same time, and it's rather nasty to play in. So we all have a few days off while we wait for it to dry and do it's thing. Hopefully tomorrow Phil will have some work for us to do in another area and we can get back to it. It looks like after pruning we may be working for a week or two on a frost protection scheme for the orchard. The orchard was very hard hit last year in Nov and so hopefully with our help they can avoid future frost burns to their fruit. As I'm suddenly completely intrigued with kiwifruit and all that goes with growing them, this sounds like much fun to me. Mike is game to go along with the ride for the time being too, it's easier than searching for jobs again, although we get to begin that here shortly anyway.
So that is the latest and greatest update from your hosts here in Kiwiland. Until next time...stay tuned.
We decided to head into Mot (short, local slang for Motueka..I guess 3 syllables is too many) to do some emailing. We were driving along minding our own business on the stretch of road that cuts through the inlet, high tide area. So there is water (or at low tide, sludge) on either side of the raised road. Down in this water is where the ducks lurk waiting for unexpecting victims. As we drove along at 100K the ducks watched us coming and they plotted and planned. When we got close enough, the ducks flew up from the side of the road directly in front of us in order to scare us. Well one of the poor guys apparently hadn't rehearsed the plan well enough because he missed the timing and smashed right into the windshield in front of my nose. We drove along in shock for a good 30 seconds before it registered and then continued a few more seconds along the road before we found a wide spot where we pulled off. We looked at each other and then hopped out of the car to inspect the smashed windshield. The first thing on both of our minds was anger at the duck, so that tells you we were both ok, no lasting harm done. I just say thank goodness that windshields are made the way they are or I would have had a faceful of glass, feathers, and copious amounts of duck poo. --I know you were waiting for that, it just adds to our collection of stories on this adventure that include poo of some kind, whether it be horse, olive, sheep, or what. Well, add one more to the list!--
Once we had recovered from the shock we continued in to Mot in a daze of denial. I just kept looking at the huge rings of cracks in front of me and thinking nah, we didn't just hit a stupid duck, and nah we don't really have to have it fixed now. That lasted most of the morning, actually, although the hostility I was feeling toward the duck (for causing this hiccup on our road to no longer having to work) increased steadily the more I thought about it. We chatted on instant messenger with my mom and most of Mike's family who were visiting in Boise and they can attest to my growling. A bit later Mike and I wandered around a small farmer's market in Mot and sharing a delicious bratwurst from one of the stands, and every couple of minutes looked at each other and cursed the duck and it's fowl play. (groan) But it could have been worse, it was for the duck!
Later yesterday afternoon we had tea with Jeanette and some of her friends and shared our ducktastrophe with them. Finally we were able to laugh for real at the situation and since then we are no longer hostile, just resigned to getting the mess fixed. This morning we called our boss, Phil, early to find out if we were working today and found that indeed we weren't, so we have an extra day to play. Yesterday and today the kiwi plants are being sprayed with chemicals to help them all achieve budburst and flower at the same time, and it's rather nasty to play in. So we all have a few days off while we wait for it to dry and do it's thing. Hopefully tomorrow Phil will have some work for us to do in another area and we can get back to it. It looks like after pruning we may be working for a week or two on a frost protection scheme for the orchard. The orchard was very hard hit last year in Nov and so hopefully with our help they can avoid future frost burns to their fruit. As I'm suddenly completely intrigued with kiwifruit and all that goes with growing them, this sounds like much fun to me. Mike is game to go along with the ride for the time being too, it's easier than searching for jobs again, although we get to begin that here shortly anyway.
So that is the latest and greatest update from your hosts here in Kiwiland. Until next time...stay tuned.
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